Heteroepitaxy of germanium on si(103) and stable surfaces of germanium

Despite the Si(103) surface having been reported as having a rough morphology and a thin disordered top layer, the present scanning tunneling microscopy investigation shows that germanium may grow on Si(103) as a heteroepitaxial layer, although with its surface completely faceted. On the surface of the germanium layer eight and only eight different facets can be found: Ge(103), (105), (216), (2 -1 6), (113), (1 -1 3), (15 3 23), and (15 -3 23). These are exactly the eight stable surfaces around (103) that have been reported, thus confirming that all stable germanium surfaces around (103) have already been found. Deposition of a thin layer of indium onto this highly faceted germanium surface followed by annealing may remove all the facets and make the surface consist of only Ge(103) (Formula presented) terraces, thus showing that in the In/Ge system the territory of the (103) family extends very far in all directions: to (001), (113), and (15 3 23).